Disclaimer: The muses of this fic wish to remind all of you that Angel Spirit does not own Digimon...(but that she does ownsomeof the characters from this fic...listedat some point in thefirst few chapters)((grins))
Author's Notes: ((watches as author huggles thenewest Papa Roach CD))... God, I seriously love their music, especially their new CD that just came out... starts humming background music to song 'Getting Away With Murder' I heard that song on the radio and I KNEW that I had to have this CD and I'm serious when I say that if you like angsty/dark music then you've got to check out this CD!!! It totally inspired me with my writing... ((happy sigh))
On a side note, I'm kind of sad with the fact that this fic is on the downhill slope and that it's pretty much writing itself now-if only because that means I won't be able to have fun torturing Kouji or any of my other wonderful characters in it anymore... pouts oh, well, at least I've got Confessions to take up my spare time after this fic...so I guess I still have a way to torture Kouji and Takuya once more... grins and to all of you guys who are reading that fic, I do plan to update it again soon! I just really wanted to try and finish up this fic before I launch all my efforts into Confessions so that way I only have one story to worry about while I'm also working on Different Journey's-my epic Takouji... winks Okay, enough of my rambling here, let's get on with chapter 13, ne? (Do I have people on the edge of their seats with this fic yet...? grins wickedly Cause if I don't, I'm almost positive that after this chapter you all will be!)
Rating: PG13
Warning: This fic does and always will contain yaoi/slash...male/male pairings...hints of yuri...so if you don't like that kind of stuff, the back button is right up there at the top to your left...
Pairings: Takuya/Kouji, Taichi/Yamato, previous hints of Rei/Katsume, and Ruki/Juri
Time Setting: Five years after Eternity
A couple of pointers for this chapter so no one gets confused:
1-It starts a few weeks after the last chapter-as to be explained later on in this chapter...
2-There is one-maybe two-flashbacks in this chapter, and those are in bold and italicized...flashbacks are only from earlier in this fic though.
ForevermoreAuthor: Angel Spirit
Chapter 13: Checkmate
Rei Ashia huddled in her coat as she dashed up the stairs that was part of the route she was taking to get to her history class...and she was going to be late. There was no way she could make it in time to be seated and ready in five minutes-not when she still had a good ten minute walk ahead of her...well, seven minutes if she jogged it.
And she really didn't feel like jogging it in this kind of weather. However, when her favorite coffee stand loomed into view, she sighed and decided to give in as she dug into her bag for her wallet.
"Ashia! You're going to be so late for you History class girl! Oh, I saw Koichi walking with Izumi awhile back...those two are so cute together..." Rei smiled at the barista on duty. Cho was a few years older then she was, but she had started University late. As Rei got paid to be the captain of her dorm residency, Cho worked at the coffee stand to help her pay her tuition.
Recently, she had been getting to know Cho a bit better...if only because of all the coffee that she was drinking as of late. She smiled at the dark blonde who automatically started getting her drink ready-which meant that it would save Rei some time.
At least, that's what she thought as she placed her money on the counter...and looked at Cho in confusion when the barista waved it off.
"Don't worry about it-your mocha's on the house today girl. You really look like you need one! So where's that girlfriend of yours lately? I haven't seen you two together as much...don't tell me there's trouble in the neighborhood!" Rei blushed and sighed. Cho was one of the first few people that Rei had admitted to that she had a crush on the stoic Katsume.
"Yeah, you could call it trouble alright..." Rei fought to keep the tears from coming-reminding herself that she had cried enough last night. And she mentally scolded herself...that was the most she'd probably ever cried in her life...and she wasn't going to let it happen again anytime soon.
Kouji probably thought she was nothing but a weakling now...
"Uh oh...don't tell me you two had another fight?" Cho asked as she handed Rei her drink and Rei shook her head.
"I wish that it was it...she...she left Cho. She left and left me a note telling me that we couldn't be together...and didn't really say why." The light haired girl's mouth fell open in astonishment, and her dark green eyes glittered with anger and astonishment.
"WHAT?!? How could she do that? She just packed up and left?!?" Rei nodded as she took a long sip of the hot liquid, allowing it to run down her throat and warm her up a bit.
"Yeah...look, Cho, is it okay if we don't really discuss it now? I've got to get to class...I'll email you sometime soon okay, and we can talk about it then." The older girl nodded, seeming to understand how Rei must've felt.
"Of course...you know that you can always come to me and talk, about anything-right girl?" Rei grinned.
"Right...look, I'm late enough as it is-thanks for the drink!" Cho giggled.
"Yeah, you needed it! See ya!" Turning around to head back to the direction of her class, not really caring if she was late anymore or not (as coffee always seemed to make things better, no matter what the situation-at least to her it did anyway...) when suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks, barely able to keep the coffee from jumping from the lid of the cup she was holding as her eyes suddenly grew wide with a horrible realization.
She didn't know why in the hell she had just thought about it now. But suddenly her mind had a flashback to the night the accident happened...the one that had put Yamato in the hospital...
Rei thought she heard Cho call out to her, asking her if she were alright, but she was already lost in the flashback that had suddenly started to play in her mind.
"You guys can't go out there! I'm serious-it's pouring down rain outside, there's thunder and lightning that's been going on for hours! Rei, make them stay here!"
His voice sounded nervous and high pitched, and Koichi raised an eyebrow at this. Did Sen actually sound...worried? Worried about someone else's well fare? If he did...it was the first time Koichi had ever seen him worried about someone else besides himself.
As he got to his group, he saw Rei on her feet by the door, standing next to a cross looking Yamato and an angry looking Taichi, who looked like he was about ready to punch Sen's lights out, and Sen himself stood in front of the dormitory's main entrance.
"Is there something you're not telling us Sen? Because if there is something you need to tell us, then tell us now." Sen visibly gulped at Rei's accusations as she glared at him, but when Sen didn't say anything, she shook her head.
"Then I suggest that Yamato and Taichi go now. It's already past curfew, and Yamato looks exhausted. Besides Sen, the rain isn't as bad as it was-I'm sure that they'll be okay." She murmured, actually sending a small sympathetic glance in his way. But for what reason, Koichi didn't know.
"I'll walk you guys out, alright?" She said as she took Koichi's sweater from him and handed it to Taichi, who helped a shivering Yamato put it on.
"You don't need to Rei. We'll be okay." Taichi tried to tell her, but Rei shook her head as she got out an umbrella and a flashlight.
"Nonsense Taichi...I'm the dorm's captain. You guys stayed late because I wouldn't let you go because of the storm...and now I at least want to make sure that you two get going okay. I'll be right back, okay?" She asked, sending the question toward the other's, who all nodded at her. As she opened the door, a gust of wind blew through, and was strong enough to almost put their fire out. Once more, Sen grabbed her by the arm.
"You guys can't go out there Ashia! I'm serious." He said, and cursed softly when Rei shoved him off of her.
"Get off me you little prick. Go find someone else to bother for once...someone that's not in this room." She added, as she glared at him before escorting Yamato and Taichi out...
Rei hadn't felt the coffee cup slip from her fingers as it hit the ground, knocking once on her knee and spilling the hot liquid down her jeans. All she knew was that she had remembered something very important. Something that might help them figure out what was going on a little bit more...
"Rei, you okay?!?" She waved Cho's question of concern off as she dashed off in the direction of the Administration's office. She had to get the schedule for Sen...and she had to get it now. She could get what she had missed from History class later on...this was much more important.
As she got into the Administration building, she immediately headed over to the one person she knew who could help her. The moment she arrived, drenched from the rain outside, the elderly woman's head popped up from where she had been glancing into a file cabinet, and she turned to see who it was that she had sensed approaching. When she saw that it was Rei, she gave her a welcoming smile.
"Rei! Good to see you dear...what can I do for you...? Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Rei let out a small laugh. Leave it to Ms. Jinn to know almost everyone's schedule's in this school. She nodded though.
"Yes, I am...but I've got something more important I have to do...and besides, I can get the notes from Kouji or Koichi later." The elderly woman sighed.
"Alright Rei, what is it that's so important that you needed to skip History and come see me, huh?"
"I need Sen Penn's schedule...please, it's very important that I know where he is, or where he's heading now." Ms. Jinn frowned for a moment, as though she were trying to recall Sen's schedule. She shook her head and mumbled to herself as she headed over to a different file cabinet and pawned through some files before grinning to herself and successfully pulling out the right one.
"Here it is! Penn, Sen...let's see...oh, here it is! He's supposed to be down in the gym, he's got a water safety class starting in about fifteen minutes." She nodded to the file as she closed it and looked up at Rei, surprised that she hadn't taken off yet, as most students normally would before she'd finished speaking to them, and she raised an eyebrow.
"Is there something else I can do for you Rei?" She asked a bit more kindly, suddenly noticing the wild look-mixed with a heavy determination-that appeared in her eyes. And Rei nodded her head at her question.
"Yes. I need you to do me a big favor. I need you to call Sen's instructor for his next class and tell him to keep him there as long as he possibly can if I'm not there before class is over! Ms. Jinn, this is so important...I need to get a hold of Sen! Please, please do that for me?!?" At the panicked sound in Rei's voice, the secretary nodded as her hand reached for the phone.
"Alright dear...but you'd better hurry it up down to the gym, I'm not sure how long Sen's instructor will hold him behind class if he doesn't know what for." Rei nodded in thanks as she dashed out of the Administration building, running as fast as her legs could carry her.
Sen knew more than what he had let on about what had happened that night. He knew that that car was going to come at her...that's why he had warned her, Taichi, and Yamato not to go out...he had tried to protect them. And by doing that, he'd sealed his own fate...because Rei wasn't the only one who had heard him. Taichi, Koichi, Kouji, Takuya, and Izumi all had as well...she just had to make them realize what she suddenly had.
Grasping her cell phone and bringing it out of her coat pocket, she quickly dialed a number and hoped and prayed that the other person would pick up...
Unfortunately for Rei, Sen hadn't attended class that day...or any of his other classes as she found out from some of Sen's other class mates.
Cursing her dumb luck as she headed back to the dormitory, she pushed back a wet strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes. The rain still hadn't let up, and in her haste to get out of the dorms this morning she'd completely forgotten her umbrella-not even her coat was helping her much.
Wanting nothing more than to go inside and head to the showers to get clean and warm again, Rei opened the front door to the dorms and sighed in relief when she was greeted with the pleasant warmth of the fire from the fireplace...mixed with that of the heater that finally worked. It had taken her forever to get the tech crew in to fix it. Now she was glad that she'd been as persistent as she had after it had broken down from the first storm they'd had.
She headed up the stairs to her room (it was painful to think of it as just hers now, with Katsume gone) to grab a change of clothes and other things she'd need, but didn't quite make it before she was stopped by a worried looking Izumi.
"Rei...you haven't by any chance seen Koichi at all today, have you?" She murmured, and Rei shook her head. She hadn't really seen much of her friends at all that day, having been too interested in finding Sen. And her search had turned up empty-leaving her with a day's worth of class work to catch up on.
"Darn it...I was hoping you had, no one else has seen him today. It's not like him to just disappear on me-or anyone else for that matter. He was supposed to meet up with me to have lunch today, but he never showed up. Alec said that he hadn't attended a couple of his classes either...I wonder where he is?" The concern in Izumi's voice was evident, and Rei sighed. There went any chances of her taking a shower and getting some much needed studying done.
Not like she really wanted to be alone in her dorm anyway...it would feel too weird to be in there without Katsume around. And Katsume was the last person she wanted to think about at the moment. She'd tried her hardest all day long to keep her blonde friend out of her mind...and now it looked like she was going to have another reason to not think about the state that Katsume had left her heart in.
"You want me to help you look for him or something?" Rei asked, coming out of her thoughts as she saw that Izumi looked like she was about ready to cry in frustration any second.
Izumi nodded and gave Rei a watery smile.
"Yeah...if you would that would be great, I know you just came in and all, but...it really isn't like him to just disappear like this. Alec said that he'd help me look too."
"Does Kouji know that Koichi hasn't turned up all day?" Izumi shook her head, and Rei raised an eyebrow. Surely Kouji had to be told...Koichi was his twin after all. Rei didn't want to think of how Kouji would act if he were told later than this that his twin was missing, and Rei wondered why Izumi hadn't told Kouji. Her unspoken question was answered though, before she could even open her mouth to speak it.
"I think that Takuya and Kouji went out tonight-on a date or something, they never came back from their classes, and I think Junpei said something earlier today about Takuya wanting some 'alone' time with Kouji...make sense?" Rei grinned softly and nodded. It made plenty of sense to her...
"If this gets too out of hand though, we can always call Kouji's cell phone-I know for a fact that he keeps it on all the time." Izumi gave her a soft smile back as she nodded and Rei followed her to where they met up with Alec, Kita, and Kai downstairs a couple of minutes later.
"I know, Takuya keeps his cell phone on all the time-we all do...I mean, Koichi, Junpei, myself and those two...it's just kind of a...a pact we made, so to speak." Rei only shrugged at Izumi's explanation and asked no further questions as they all decided where to split up to go searching for Koichi.
Izumi went with Junpei, Kita and Kai stuck together...and that left Rei with Alec. One glance at Rei though, and Alec laughed softly as he held the front door open for her...and Rei only childishly stuck her tongue out at the dark blonde.
"I think that 'wet' is the new look for you Rei-you certainly seem to be wearing it lately!" Rei sighed and nodded as Alec followed her down the street.
"Yeah...I know, I know. I was going to take a shower and change into a comfortable pair of sweats...but before I could even get into my room Izumi caught me. And being the good friend that I am, I had to say that I'd help her look for Koichi before I could think about the consequences...so now I'm getting soaking wet...again." She said with another sigh, but realized that she no longer felt the rain.
Looking up, she grinned when she saw Alec holding a large umbrella over the two of them, and he grinned back at her.
"That's why I brought this with me...I had the feeling that we could use this!" Rei chuckled and nodded as she pointed in the direction of the music hall.
"I know it's a long shot...with...with Yamato being in the hospital and all. But I know that sometimes Koichi-as well as some of the others and myself included-like to hang out in the music rooms every once in awhile. Maybe Koichi's there?" Alec nodded in the same direction and they headed off toward the darkened music building, unaware of the eyes that followed them...
Taichi sighed softly as he glanced at his koi...who had yet to wake up. It had been almost three weeks now...and Taichi wasn't sure how much more he could take.
He knew that his grades were already slipping, even if his instructors were understanding of his current situation. Repeating a grade in college was something that Taichi did not want to really do. But he also knew that he couldn't leave Yamato's side...not while he was so...so helpless...
Balling a hand into a light fist, Taichi sighed again as he used his other hand to gently brush some fallen locks of golden hair out of his love's face.
"Please wake up Yamato...please...? I need you. And I know that Takeru and your family needs you, and Rei needs you...everyone needs you. And I feel like such a greedy boyfriend when I say that I need you the most out of all of them. Yama, I really don't think I could live without you...please don't make me wait any longer for you to wake up, please?" But even as Taichi said this, and prayed with all his heart for his koi to wake up and assure him that all would be alright...
He was only greeted with the steady sound of Yamato's heart beating over the heart monitor...his only assurance that Yamato was still there with him...
It was well past midnight when Izumi, Junpei, Kita, and Kai got back to the dorm rooms...to find that Kouji and Takuya had already gone to bed.
Izumi had only found that out after she'd knocked on their door-knowing that she had to tell Kouji now, that Koichi was missing, and nowhere to be found. She knew that she'd ruin her friend's night totally-but it couldn't be helped. If Kouji found out tomorrow morning that his twin was still missing, there would be hell to pay.
And Izumi really didn't feel like feeling Kouji's wrath.
It was a bleary eyed Takuya who opened the door, looking like he'd haphazardly thrown a T-shirt over a pair of boxers, as the T-shirt was inside out and turned around the wrong way...his curly light brown hair slightly messed up...Izumi would've had a good laugh at such a sight, if it wasn't for what was going on at the present moment.
"Izumi...? Wh-?" He didn't get to finish his sentence, as Izumi moved to push pass Takuya, but he blocked her and she sent him an angry, frustrated glare. One that took him by surprise as he held her firmly by the shoulders to keep her from entering. And for a very good reason too-for from the corner of his eye, he saw Kouji slip out of his bed and pull on a T-shirt over his bare chest, as he looked like he was trying to find something to tie his hair back and eventually gave up with a sigh as he found a pair of boxers instead and slipped them on.
"I need to talk to Kouji-Takuya, please, it's urgent!" Izumi snapped, the emotional strain of the day finally taking it's toll. Normally if someone like Kai or even Junpei had taken off like this without notice or warning she wouldn't be so worried. But Koichi always told her where he was going to be-and with him not having showed up at all that day, was starting to really freak her out.
Especially with all that had been going on lately.
A couple seconds after Izumi's demand, Kouji showed up at Takuya's shoulder and peered over it at her, sending her a look of annoyance, and Izumi knew that she'd interrupted something she shouldn't have had. But this was far more important than what Takuya and Kouji had been doing beforehand.
Kita let out a soft gasp as she saw that Kouji's hair was loose, and even Kai looked a bit set off by the sight-very rarely did Kouji ever allow anyone to see his hair loose-with the exception of Takuya of course. Even Izumi had never seen Kouji with his hair loose, and she'd known him longer than the twins-and even though she had to admit that Kouji did look quite good with his dark raven hair cascading halfway down his back, she chose to ignore it at the moment.
"What is it Izumi?" Kouji murmured, stifling a yawn.
"Koichi's missing...has been since early this morning I'm positive, and he never showed up to lunch for the place where we'd agree to meet. Kai, Kita, and Junpei have helped me look for him this whole entire evening and we haven't found him once so ever-I was hoping you'd know where he might've gone off too as it's quite unusual for him to just disappear as he's done and not tell me where he's going." As soon as he fully comprehended what Izumi was saying, Kouji's dark blue gray eyes opened wide.
"When did anyone last see him?" He asked, his own concern showing through for his missing twin.
"I saw him this morning before class, because he and I got a coffee beforehand and than he walked me to Philosophy. I haven't seen him since, and Alec-who I'm assuming is still out searching for Koichi with Rei-hasn't seen him either, he didn't show up in any of his classes." Izumi said, speaking a bit less harsh then she had beforehand and sending an apologetic glance at Takuya who merely nodded in return at her as he'd long since let go of her shoulders.
Takuya now moved so that he was placing a comforting hand around Kouji's own shoulders, that seemed tense with worry and irritation.
Why did everything have to happen to him? Or to those close to him...
It was the one thought that was currently running through Kouji's mind, and he hoped that Rei and Alec got back soon. He didn't want anyone else he knew to go missing.
"Has anyone checked in with Taichi at the hospital? Maybe Koichi thought to go and check up on him or something?" Even though in his heart Kouji knew that that was probably not what happened, he decided to give it a try anyway.
"No, we haven't called Taichi yet...but that's a good idea." Izumi murmured, as Takuya got out his own cell phone and instantly started to dial Taichi's number, knowing that the brunette would still be awake.
Sure enough, Taichi did answer his phone and Takuya actually frowned at the sound of the other brunette's voice. He sounded emotionally drained, not to mention physically exhausted as well...and he made a mental note to go down to the hospital with Kouji or maybe even Rei-perhaps the both of them-and try to drag Taichi away from Yamato's bedside once again-long enough to shower and get some sleep of his own.
'Taichi speaking.'
"Taichi, it's Takuya...you haven't by any chance seen Koichi lately, have you?" Takuya murmured into the phone, hoping that he wouldn't put anymore stress on Taichi. If Taichi had been feeling tired at all that night, the feeling immediately went away as soon as Takuya asked him that question and he sat up instantly from where he'd been leaning against Yamato's bed, one of his hand clasped over Yamato's own.
'No, I haven't...why?' Letting out a soft sigh and knowing that he was going to regret explaining to Taichi now what was going on, he nervously fidgeted for a minute before he took a small breath and just decided to come out with it.
"Well, according to Izumi, Koichi's been missing for most of the day-she said she saw him once this morning when he took her to her first class and than she didn't see him again after that, and that he didn't meet up with her for lunch like they'd planned. She and the other's have been searching for him for most of the evening, and hasn't seen any sight of him. We were wondering if maybe he'd decided to go and visit you and Yamato at the hospital and just forgot to tell us?" Takuya silently crossed his fingers when he was done, but he knew what Taichi's answer was going to be.
'I'm sorry Takuya...I haven't seen him at all today. But call me again if he doesn't turn up anytime soon and I'll help you guys look some more for him, okay?' Cursing his dumb luck, as Takuya now knew that Taichi had nothing to do but worry about Koicih's whereabouts, he nodded.
"Yeah, will do Taichi...I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" His question had taken Taichi by surprise, that much was certain-he heard it in Taichi's voice when they said goodbye.
'Alright-take care you guys.'
"Sure thing. And try to get some sleep, okay?" With that said, Takuya hung up and shook his head at the other's.
"He said he hasn't seen Koichi at all...this isn't like him." Izumi let out a soft growl as she nodded her head in agreement with Takuya.
"Damn right it isn't like him!" She muttered, as Junpei gently put his hands on her shoulders, and started to slowly massage them as he tried to calm down her frustrated nerves.
"Calm down Z...doing what you're doing right now isn't helping us find Koichi any." Izumi nodded and let out a tired sigh as she leaned up against Junpei, relaxing against the small massage that he was giving her. She was more tired than she previously thought she was.
And Kita noticed this, for she motioned Junpei to help her take Izumi down to their room.
"I think someone's ready for a bit of shut eye..." Izumi heard Kita whisper softly into Junpei's ear, who nodded and allowed Kita to lead the way towards her and Izumi's dorm room.
"You know, it's almost one in the morning and Alec and Rei haven't come back yet?" Kai murmured, voicing the sudden thought that had entered both Takuya's and Kouji's minds as well.
"They'd better come back real soon, I've got enough to worry about!" Kouji muttered, and Takuya sighed softly as he pulled Kouji close, and his koi buried his face into his shoulder...Kai smiling softly at the sight of them.
"If they don't come back shortly after one, I'm going out to go and look for them." Kai admitted, and Junpei agreed as he had come back after making sure that both of the girls would be alright for the night.
"It's too dangerous for you to go out there alone." Even Takuya had to agree with Junpei and Kai sighed in defeat.
"Alright, fine. You can come with me Junpei-I'm just hoping that they haven't disappeared like Koichi has." No one could find anything else to say to Kai's last words, as they all looked expectantly toward the front entrance to the dormitory-hoping that Alec and Rei would come walking through it any minute...
Rei sighed in despair, as she and Alec huddled underneath the shelter of the bus station. The weather had suddenly made a turn for the worse-something not even an umbrella could help keep them dry.
The wind whipped around the trees outside, and she and Alec saw several transformers blow as the storm raged on.
"This is great...our cell phone's don't work...the other's are going to be worried about us for sure if we don't find a way to get back soon." Alec murmured, having tried his cell phone for the billionth time. Rei had long since given up on hers as she'd been the one to find that they didn't work. Be it because of the storm, or because this area generally wasn't too good for cell phone uses...either way, they were stuck.
Alec, noticing her shivers, pulled her a bit closer to share his warmth. She'd already been pretty wet before they'd come out looking for Koichi, and Alec was worried that she'd probably ended up with a cold or something after this whole ordeal.
"You know...there's that abandoned building that's not too far from here, we could try and make a run for that. It would be better then spending the night out in the storm in a bus shelter that doesn't help us much." He softly murmured into her ear, and Rei shivered a bit-but not from the cold-more or less from how close that Alec was to her as she nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, sounds like a plan...you want to go first?" She asked, gesturing out into the wild weather as Alec shook his head and reached out a hand as he stood up from the soggy bench they'd been sitting on. Grabbing a hold of Alec's hand, she allowed him to pull her up.
"Nope-I say we both go together and use each other's strengths to get to that building as fast as we possibly can." Rei nodded-she could live with that decision.
Mustering the strength and courage that the two had left in them, they darted out into the rain-it felt like ice was falling down upon them and tearing through their clothes, and hair...and at one point Rei slipped on the slick pavement and went crashing to the ground, letting out a hiss of pain as her still-healing arms from the accident a few weeks ago was hit quite painfully.
But Alec pulled her up and closer to him and they continued to run.
It seemed like forever, but eventually the two of them managed to get to the abandoned building-that used to be where one of the dormitories were to the campus before it got shut down due to the fact that the college had just build better dormitories and hadn't bothered to knock it down. The moment they were out of the rain, with the doors shutting with a soft bang behind them, Rei let out a sigh as she almost all but collapsed on the floor and shivered.
She was cold...wet...and starting to feel miserable...
Hearing Alec's low whistle, she looked up to see that Alec had continued on a bit, exploring around them with the miniature flashlight that he'd had with him in the pocket of his jacket.
"Wow...I'm assuming that this is what the older dormitories look like. I kind of like it, what about you Rei?" Rei shook off the chill that ran through her body as she got rid of her wet coat, knowing that it wouldn't help her much here as she caught up with him...glancing about her as she did so.
"It's-okay I guess, I think that it would probably look better in the light of the day though." She murmured, and Alec laughed gently as he nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, that's probably true...but as long as we're stuck here, why don't we just continue exploring it and if it gets too dangerous we can always come back down here to where it looks pretty safe?" Rei nodded as she took his hand that was once again outstretched toward her and savored the warmth that flowed through it as the dormitory had yet to offer any real warmth...
She missed the soft, gentle smile that Alec sent her way when she looked up toward the second floor, as the two of them headed up the stairs-they could always explore the first floor of the old dormitory later.
"This is amazing..." Rei murmured, and even though her voice was fairly quiet, it still echoed through the empty building. Alec couldn't even say anything, he was swept away with awe as they explored the old dormitory, their eyes taking in the wonderful architecture that was set before them.
"It kind of looks like something from medieval times...makes me wonder if this place is haunted at all, it would be the perfect place for spirits to hide in." Alec finally commented, his smile growing wider when he saw Rei's eyes lighten a bit in fear and she shivered again-another excuse for him to pull her a bit closer.
He wasn't quite sure what he was suddenly feeling toward Rei...but since Katsume had gone he suddenly felt the need to protect her-to hold her closer to him whenever she was near him.
Alec knew that it wasn't love he was feeling for her-if anything he felt like an older brother to Rei with the time they'd been spending together lately.
He hid a smile as Rei allowed herself to move closer to him and he rubbed a hand over her bare arm, as Rei was only wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of jeans.
"Cold?" Alec murmured, and Rei nodded.
"Yeah, a little...and still wet..." Both of them chuckled at this, as Alec glanced behind him and gestured to where they'd left the staircases.
"You know, we could always go back down and I can try and start a fire in that old fireplace? There's bound to be dried firewood around this old heap of a building somewhere." But Rei shook her head at Alec's suggestion, and he raised his eyebrows in slight surprise.
He would've thought that Rei would've instantly jumped at the thought of being warm again...not to mention a chance to dry off as well, for the fire-if he was able to build one-would surely help.
"I can't explain it...it just feels like we need to continue on exploring this place...let's go upstairs." Alec nodded as he allowed Rei to slip out of his awkward embrace and followed her up the stairs that led up to the third floor.
It seemed as though Rei wasn't acting on her own accord-she seemed to know exactly where she was going, and when Alec commented on this, all Rei did was shake her head.
"I don't know how I know this, I just...do..."
Suddenly she stopped and turned back around as she felt something guide her back to a doorway that was nearly hanging off of it's hedges. Her hand was shaking as she went to move the door, and Alec came over and helped her with the door, as it was rather stubborn-in the end the two of them just managed to pry it off and Alec leaned it against the wall.
When he came back to Rei, he saw nothing but fear in her eyes and look of horror on her face. He made to ask her what was wrong but before he could he saw her point a shaky finger to where the middle of the room was, looking like she was ready to scream any minute.
As his dark eyes followed to where she was pointing to, Alec suddenly felt like screaming himself, a knot twisting and turning in the pit of his stomach as his eyes took in the scene before him.
They'd finally found Koichi...unconscious on the floor of the room they were standing before, with a dark stain spilling out from underneath him...
It wasn't until Alec had moved to check on their hurt friend, that Rei discovered the message written on the wall...in blood...Koichi's blood...and it was only when she started to read it out loud that he realized what it was she was talking about.
"Checkmate..."
TBC
End Note: ((hides nervously behind Kouji and Takuya)) Don't hurt me for hurting Koichi? Please...? ((whimpers and continues to use Kouji and Takuya as shields from all the Koichi lovers)) I promise that he-and everyone else-will live! (I can't write a death fic for the life of me, as I don't even like reading them myself, so have no fear!) I thought that I had updated with this chapter but I'm glad I double checked my status on this fic as I hadn't...hehe...sorry about that you guys! (that's what happens when an author writes ahead of herself...oops...) I'll update with this fic again after is done with the read only mode that's going into effect tomorrow, so as soon as that comes off I'll put up the next chapter...as I know how everyone hates waiting for so long when it comes to cliffhangers! (As I've lately been experiencing plenty of them myself with all the fics that I've been reading, so...) I'll see you guys in chapter 14...